We open this month on Ares and Moonstone dragging Luke Cage out of the Night Nurse’s doorway, Ares showing a rather unusual concern for his health. Ms. Marvel comes shooting out of the place and flies away. Osborn gives chase, telling the rest of his team to secure the remaining New Avengers, and that they have “execution privileges. He streaks after Carol, getting close enough to almost grab her boot.
That seems to have been a mistake. What a spread. No one in superhero comics was touching Immonen for his dynamism at this point. He’d probably still reign supreme if he’d not quietly retired from superhero work.
Individual New Avengers keep physically defeating Osborn with incredible ease. How is he supposed to be a scary villain if everyone’s dropping him in 2 panels? Back at the scene, the Avengers have done various things to prevent entry to the building, so Moonstone phases through the wall to find the Night Nurse, having just sent an email to Ben Urich explaining what’s happened, up to an including her turning Cage over to Osborn and therefore doing nothing wrong, should he later learn her civil rights have been violated. The Avengers are nowhere to be seen. Moonstone is very cross.
I’m at my arbitrary and largely instinctual cutoff for sequential pages, but I can’t not run panel 2 on the next page.
Look at that! Man oh man. Bucky almost comes flying right out of the book! We cut away from that thrilling conflict to the Hood learning his gang all abandoned him, then to the HAMMER helicarrier, where they’re trying to figure out o hoe to operate on a guy with bulletproof skin. Osborn takes great pleasure in zapping him with a repulsor blast when the doctors want to use the paddles on him. They’re losing him, though, and Osborn says to bring in Harrow, presumably to use his device. Meanwhile:
Jess goes crashing out the window, pursued by Carol, who physically restrains her and tries to talk her down from assaulting HAMMER all by herself. Carol says it was the only way to save Luke, and also, that they have a plan. Back on the helicarrier, Harrow’s thingie is active, and they begin surgery on Luke. Bullseye is incredulous that Norman isn’t just letting him die.
Vaguely recall how this goes. It’s funny, I don’t remember the plot too well, but I remember Spider-Man’s beatdown of Norman last issue and Bucky getting hit by that axe in this one. Immonen was just on fire.